12 Never Back Down (1/2)
I always assumed that a shadowblade's touch was as hot as grasping burning coals, so I wasn't prepared for the biting cold seeping out of the charred blade as it pierced through my leather vest and touched the exposed skin underneath. Even worse was the freezing sensation it produced as the spearhead ripped into my stomach. Pain and numbness struck me at the same time. I screamed. I wasn't the only one.
”Dean~~n!” Aura screamed my name.
I could hear her voice even through the ringing in my ears, drowning out my own scream, and moving past the pain to something primal hidden in the depths of my addled brain. Only an inappropriate teenage brain would think of not wanting to look uncool in front of the girl he fancied, but it was because of this really superficial thought that clarity returned to me, and I didn't fail to take advantage of my return to consciousness.
My scream cut out as I gritted my teeth. With my left hand, I grasped Azuma's spear tip, which was only about half an inch deep into me, by the charred blade. Immediately, my fingers felt a cold numbness creep into their tips. Blood dripped down my palm where the blade cut into me but I refused to let go.
Azuma's slanted eyes widened in momentary surprise, but before he could push the spear tip further in, my free hand reached for the falchion's sword hilt which was dangling from his left side and pulled the blade out with the last of my dwindling strength. The blade slinked out, and it was Azuma's turn to scream.
It was nice to know that he still felt pain despite being some kind of unkillable soldier, which I think was the worst cheat in the history of fairy gifts.
Nevertheless, Azuma's discomfort was my gain because while the pain distracted him, I pushed the half-inch of the spear tip that pierced me out and away. Then I stepped away as quickly as I could, almost stumbling in my haste despite my own wound causing painful tremors inside me.
Seeing me escape his clutches would have sent anyone else in a fury but Azuma remained calm. He took a moment to cover his wound with his right palm while his left hand laid the steel spear over his shoulder. He sighed heavily like a teenager forced into a thankless chore. Then, quick as a snake, he whipped the spear out in a wide arc and straight for my exposed neck.
I jumped back to dodge it. I stumbled. Then I fell into the wet mud butt first.
A Firebolt from Aura's staff streaked past me but all Azuma had to do to destroy it was slice it in half with his shadowblade spear tip. He'd done it with an inhumanly quick sweep of his spear with just his left hand.
Blood continued to pour down from the hole in my vest. It soaked the ground and mixed with the puddle of water beside me.
Azuma stepped forward. This put me within his attack range.
He thrust his spear at me, but my hand had no strength left to parry it with my falchion.
Or so I believed.
Out of nowhere, power surged into my right hand like a jolt of electricity. This energy traveled up my arm, giving it a much needed boost like a shot of caffeine during endless homework season.
I gripped my sword hilt and reflexively lifted the falchion to parry the spear tip heading for me. I forced the blade's momentum with the flat of my own blade to the side where it harmlessly skewered the dirt.
As I couldn't get up to run, I barrelled away instead like a pig rolling in the mud. That's how desperate I was to escape. When I was a good ten feet away from him, I rolled onto one knee with my blade pointed in Azuma's direction.
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There was a glint of amusement in the crinkle of his eyes. A smile forming on the dry lips.
”It's been a while since I've fought a soldier too stubborn to die,” he said, and his voice sounded less tired.
Shit, just how unlucky was I that Azuma was much more interested in killing me now? I wondered this while the rest of my mind raced through the possible ending scenarios of another confrontation. Every single one of them led to my death—shit.
While I thought about how hopeless the situation was, I noticed the glow coming from my hand, and when I glanced down, I found Aura's bracelet flickering with a soft golden light.
My eyes swiveled to where I'd last seen her, and my heart warmed to find that she was still there.
Aura was kneeling on the ground with her eyes half closed. She was whispering under her breath while her hands grasped the locket I gave her. From where I was, it seemed the locket was glowing too.
I lifted Aura's bracelet to eye-level and saw the golden light surrounding it flickering like a heartbeat.
”Interesting... that she-elf must be your contractor,” Azuma gave Aura a curious look. ”You share a life bond?”
”W-what?” I asked, confused. It was the first time I'd ever heard of this life bond.
Azuma lifted his spear as if the fight had gone out of him. ”Fairies who form a contract with a visere can create a life bond with them so that they can share each other's strengths with one another.”
Azuma's gaze fell on my stomach.
His eyes narrowed slightly. ”How's your pain?”
I glanced down at the hole in my stomach. The bleeding had stopped. Newly formed scar tissue covered the wound. The pain was also much lesser—an insistent whimper compared to the raging roar of earlier.
”A life bond even allows a fairy to share her life force with her visere at the cost of her own health,” Azuma revealed.
At his words, my head swiveled to Aura whose chest, I now noticed, was heaving heavily like she was running a marathon.
”Curious... most fairies would never attempt this as they don't really value human lives more than their own,” Azuma's voice was contemplative. Then he asked a question that made me blush from my toes all the way to the pores of my cheeks. ”Is the she-elf your woman? Have you had sex yet?”
I looked at Azuma with growing shock on my face. ”O-of course not! We're partners. That's all...”